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The curtain has closed on Garth Drabinsky’s fight to win back his Order of Canada medal, stripped from the ex-theatre mogul as he served time in prison for two fraud convictions.

A federal court judge found “no basis” for allowing Drabinsky a judicial review to look into the governor general’s 2012 decision to rescind the medal.

Drabinsky — the former Cineplex Odeon CEO often credited with modernizing Canada’s film and theatre industries — wanted a second chance to argue his case, calling a previous process “unfair” because he was behind bars during the decision.

The judge didn’t buy the argument and ruled that the decision was fair.

“In my view, the council and the governor general respected the applicable procedures, and provided Mr. Drabinsky a fair chance to make submissions opposing the termination of his Order of Canada,” Justice James O’Reilly said in a ruling released Wednesday.

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“Therefore, there is no basis on which to overturn the governor general’s decision.”

The Order of Canada advisory council first notified Drabinsky in 2012 that his medal, awarded in 1995, could be revoked based on his criminal convictions.

The Order of Canada, regarded as the country’s top honour, is bestowed on those who have significantly contributed to Canadian society. Recent inductees include author Douglas Coupland, fashion maven Jeanne Beker and Toronto writer and director Sarah Polley.

Drabinsky’s medal was called into question after a member of the public wrote a letter asking how Drabinsky could keep the honour after he was sent to prison.

A criminal conviction does not automatically strip an officer of the title. Rather, the governor general must consider recommendations presented by the advisory council before deciding whether to revoke the medal.

Still in prison at the time, Drabinsky was given the chance to argue his case. He later presented council with 17 pages of supporting documents and a copy of his 500-page autobiography, Closer to the Sun.

Despite the detailed submissions, the council advised the governor general to lean towards revocation. Governor General David Johnston officially rubber-stamped the decision in November 2012, making Drabinsky the fifth inductee to be ejected from the order.

In a final attempt to earn his medal back, Drabinsky took the case to court in September. He wanted the judge to rule in favour of a judicial review, which he hoped could legally force the council to hear more submissions.

Drabinsky’s lawyer, John Koch, listed many reasons why he believed the council’s process denied Drabinsky “natural justice,” including the date of the council hearing, council’s recommendations to the governor general and, ultimately, the final revocation.

He argued that the advisory council did not fairly balance Drabinsky’s criminal past with the merits that won him the order in the first place.

Again, the judge disagreed.

“In my view, the conduct of the council and the governor general respected the steps set out in the applicable process,” Justice O’Reilly wrote.

“Mr. Drabinsky has failed to show that he was treated unfairly.”

Drabinsky was sentenced to five years in prison in 2009 after he and his business partner Myron Gottlieb were convicted for a book-cooking scheme that put the nail in the coffin for Livent Inc., the theatre company behind such hits as Phantom of the Opera and Ragtime.

He served part of his sentence in prison before being released to a Toronto halfway house in late 2012.

This week’s ruling cements Drabinsky’s place among a small group of ex-officers of the Order of Canada.

Others stripped of the honour include David Ahenakew, an Aboriginal leader who once called Jews “a disease,” and Steve Fonyo, a one-legged cancer survivor who jogged across Canada and was later found guilty of a number of criminal charges, including drunk driving and assault.

A pending decision may soon add former newspaper baron Conrad Black to the list.

The advisory council is currently deciding whether to recommend revoking the Order of Canada from Black, who was jailed in Florida for 37 months after a U.S. jury found him guilty of fraud and obstruction of justice in 2007.

Black was inducted into the order in 1990.

A recent court decision barred Black from arguing his case in person. A panel of three judges ruled in November to uphold a lower court ruling that decided Black would only be able to give submissions in print.

A recent poll found that 63 per cent of Canadians believe Black should have his Order of Canada medal taken away.

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